Esos Rings CEO Michelle Bisnoff Convicted of Nearly $2 Million Ponzi Scheme
LOS ANGELES (KEYT) – Michelle Bisnoff has been convicted of multiple financial crimes in connection with an almost $2 million Ponzi scheme related to duping investors about a wearable "smart ring" patent she didn't own as well as COVID-19 business loan fraud.
The 59-year-old former resident of Pacific Palisades and Santa Barbara was convicted Thursday of six counts of securities fraud, six counts of wire fraud, two counts of money laundering, one count of wire fraud connected to a COVID-19-related loan and one count of aggravated identity theft stated the First Assistant's Office for the Central District of California in a press release Friday.
Bisnoff, who also went by 'Michelle Angeline Silverstein' and 'Shelly Silverstein', was hired by United Kingdom-based McLear Ltd. to create a market for the company's patented near-field communication payment rings detailed evidence presented during the seven-day trial.
By early 2017, Bisnoff was claiming she owned the patent and even used a fabricated patent assignment to market her "smart rings" through a company she formed called Esos Rings Inc. noted federal prosecutors.
Bisnoff claimed to investors that Esos Rings was profitable, used money she received to meet demands from retailers -including Target and Walmart- and was receiving large infusions of capital from major companies including Apple Inc. and Roc Nation detailed prosecutors.
According to federal prosecutors, Bisnoff told investors that Esos Rings would fund buybacks of investors' shares in the company at prices above what they had paid and claimed the company was on the cusp of a licensing agreement with Middle Earth Enterprises which owns the rights to The Lord of the Rings and the use of the internationally-renowned franchise for branding.
Despite those promises to investors, Esos Rings had little to no revenue, no agreements with Target, had sold six total rings on Walmart.com -three of which were returned-, never received any investment from Apple Inc. nor Roc Nation, and never finalized a branding agreement with Middle Earth Enterprises noted the First Assistant's Office.
Additionally, Bisnoff knew that financial statements, a corporate tax return filed by Esos Rings, and a patent valuation she provided to investors were not prepared nor signed by the professionals who were listed on the documents shared federal prosecutors.
Most of the investments were used to pay for personal expenses, including rent at her residence, and to make Ponzi-style payments to prior investors to continue the scheme explained prosecutors in Los Angeles.
When investors did not receive the promised returns, she offered a series of explanations that one witness testified amounted to 'dog-ate-my-homework' excuses, tried to embezzle around $550,000 from an employer and sent checks that could not be processed noted prosecutors.
According to federal prosecutors, Bisnoff fraudulently obtained almost $2 million from investors, resulting in an estimated loss for the victims of around $1.4 million.
In March of 2020, Bisnoff fraudulently applied for a pandemic-related Economic Injury Disaster Loan using the name 'Michelle Silverstein' and identifying herself as the chief operating officer of Esos Rings stated prosecutors in Los Angeles.
On the application, Bisnoff provided fabricated information about the company's gross revenue and the cost of goods it sold during the 12-month period before the COVID-19 pandemic detailed prosecutors.
Additionally, Bisnoff, as 'Michelle Silverstein', certified that she would only use the pandemic loan for business expenses, but instead used at least some of the $150,000 she ultimately received for personal expenses including monthly lease payments at her Pacific Palisades home noted prosecutors.
Bisnoff is next due in court for a sentencing hearing on Jan. 21, 2027, where she faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each count of securities fraud and wire fraud, a maximum sentence of ten years for each money laundering count, and a mandatory two-year consecutive federal prison term for the counts of aggravated identity theft detailed the First Assistant's Office.
In 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued Bisnoff and Esos Rings for fraudulently raising $1.95 million from investors and a September 2023 judgement required a total of $836,548 to be paid to the federal regulator within 30 days explained federal prosecutors Friday.
According to court documents from Bisnoff's criminal case, neither Bisnoff nor Esos Rings has paid any amount of that judgement.
Your News Channel reached out to Esos Rings for more information and its response will be added to this article when it is received.
